Freakish Image De-Construction Continued......

11/23/2009 08:13:22 PM · #1

Okay......as a carryover from Joe's

Dirt_Diver freaky processing thread, that he officially pronounced dead.......here's the proposition.

I have uploaded the original files from these two images, both of which I used Topaz on, amongst the usual gamut of stuff in CS2, and these are the kind of images that have provoked some.......discussion.....on various levels.

These images below are approximately 4&5 MB jpeg files, not cropped or anything other than resized down from roughly 14x20 to 8x12.

Download one or both, do 'em up how you would best meet the challenge descriptions, and how you feel that they look the most promising, to you, and tell us what you did, how, and why.

Image Grain III: Description-Use grain/noise in your photo to add to its impact.

Window View II: Description-Find an interesting window view. The window glass or frame must be included in the photo to make it obvious it's been taken from a window.

I'm actually a delightful mix of curious and excited to see what you might do in your quest for that "Perfect" way of processing these images.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

11/23/2009 09:58:14 PM · #2

I'm surprised nobody else took you up on it yet. I did two edits with slightly different looks. Can anyone tell me if Topaz was used on either of them?

Message edited by author 2009-11-23 21:58:24.

ace flyman

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/23/2009 10:26:10 PM · #3

I tried down loading the window shot, it opens a pix 1"x1" photo ? Don't know why.

glad2badad

DJI Mavic Air 2

Sears 55mm f/1.4 M42

11/23/2009 10:32:29 PM · #4

Originally posted by ace flyman:

I tried down loading the window shot, it opens a pix 1"x1" photo ? Don't know why.

Use the View full-sized image link...

Message edited by author 2009-11-23 22:33:08.

ace flyman

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/23/2009 11:01:46 PM · #5

Cool.....Thanks!!!

mpeters

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

11/23/2009 11:43:17 PM · #6

Here is my stab at it. All manual :), no photomatix or topaz. For the record, your version is a lot better and it was probably a few steps rather than several! I included my layers palette fyi. I ran luko sharpening after flattening the image to exaggerate the noise/grain. Fun exercise...thanks for posting.

ONe more thing...I got to the very end and realized that your tight crop was a vast improvement over my slight one. Good call!

Message edited by author 2009-11-23 23:44:35.

dswann

Nikon D7000

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

11/24/2009 12:03:06 AM · #7

Originally posted by glad2badad:

Originally posted by ace flyman:
I tried down loading the window shot, it opens a pix 1"x1" photo ? Don't know why.

Use the View full-sized image link...

Pardon my ignorance, but exactly how do you do this to download the full size photo?

kandykarml

Nikon D80

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

11/24/2009 12:04:48 AM · #8

Originally posted by dswann:

Originally posted by glad2badad:

Originally posted by ace flyman:
I tried down loading the window shot, it opens a pix 1"x1" photo ? Don't know why.

Use the View full-sized image link...

Pardon my ignorance, but exactly how do you do this to download the full size photo?

click on the original image, then in the box for the image description there's an option to open the full size.. Click on that and then you can right click to save it and begin your work on it..

11/24/2009 06:14:11 AM · #9

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

I'm surprised nobody else took you up on it yet. I did two edits with slightly different looks. Can anyone tell me if Topaz was used on either of them?

I think maybe....on the second one.

I like that one best.

My own inclination on that one would be to take the cyan down a little.

The blue cast that I had on mine was not wholly intentional, but I liked it somewhat so I rolled with it.

11/24/2009 06:19:54 AM · #10

Originally posted by mpeters:

Thanks, Mark! I had a lot of fun with that image, and even if it would have not gotten a Top 10, it's one of my all-time faves.

You're right, I didn't do very much to it.

The adaptive exposure, done with the regions slider, and minor tweaks brought out the color & grain nicely.

I think that's the two features of Topaz that appeal to me the most. The way it works with light and texture.

Which I think are the two reasons most people hate it! LOL!!!

I will have to say that I do feel that I have a knack for getting a decent look with gritty, grungy, dilapidated things......I know I enjoy the heck out of working with them.

I have learned here from viewing others' work that cropping is important. I definitely feel that I havbe much to learn there!

Message edited by author 2009-11-24 06:23:30.

11/24/2009 06:25:17 AM · #11

Where's AJ? I was sort of hoping to see what he'd do with the window shot.

GinaRothfels

Olympus 8mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko Digital ED Fisheye PRO Lens

11/24/2009 08:21:48 AM · #12

I feel a bit funny editing images that won ribbons when I've never managed that honour myself, but here are two of the window scene:

spiritualspatula

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

11/24/2009 08:37:37 AM · #13

I decided to do these in B/W for a change of pace. Definitely interesting to retool winners.

I was originally going to do the grain one in color... and then gave in to B/W.

Message edited by author 2009-11-24 08:37:57.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

11/24/2009 09:21:39 AM · #14

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

My own inclination on that one would be to take the cyan down a little.

Actually, I liked the cyan showing in the windows and I cranked it up a little. It's always interesting to see what different people do with the same scene, isn't it?

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

I think maybe....on the second one.

I think the point has been proven. That is the one that did not use any Topaz product. I did use PaintShop Pro's clarify adjustment on it, however. The first one used both Topaz Adjust and Topaz Detail

GinaRothfels

Olympus 8mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko Digital ED Fisheye PRO Lens

11/24/2009 09:25:53 AM · #15

I didn't think of black and white until

spiritualspatula tried it. I tried a couple of conversions from one of my earlier versions using virtual photographer plugin.

AJSullivan

11/24/2009 09:28:35 AM · #16

Sorry, was at class til 10:00pm last night, Ill take a stab after happy hour tonite.

*Edit: Not really sure what the goal is here. The whole conversation was about taking lackluster images, throwing a fresh coat of topaz on them, and passing them off as something good. So is the goal for me to try and make these look good or try to make them look topazed without actually topazzing them? Or what?

Message edited by author 2009-11-24 09:32:47.

citymars

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

11/24/2009 09:36:40 AM · #17

Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Nice. For me the b&w reveals the composition, which doesn't seem as important in the color version.

AJSullivan

11/24/2009 09:40:25 AM · #18

Originally posted by citymars:

Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Nice. For me the b&w reveals the composition, which doesn't seem as important in the color version.

Thats the way I would go with it too. The colors are too bright for such a dreary scene. I don't think I would have gone this dark, but I think BW is definitely the way to go.

11/24/2009 09:49:02 AM · #19

Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Originally posted by citymars:

Nice. For me the b&w reveals the composition, which doesn't seem as important in the color version.

Originally posted by AJSullivan:

Thats the way I would go with it too. The colors are too bright for such a dreary scene. I don't think I would have gone this dark, but I think BW is definitely the way to go.

Looking forward to your take on it.....

11/24/2009 09:51:54 AM · #20

Originally posted by AJSullivan:

Do whatever you like.....just tell us what you're doing, and why.

If you think you can't make them look good on any level, then tell us what you would have done differently to make them interesting.

11/24/2009 09:53:17 AM · #21

Originally posted by GinaRothfels:

I didn't think of black and white until spiritualspatula tried it. I tried a couple of conversions from one of my earlier versions using virtual photographer plugin.

I'd love to see something about halfway between these two.

I like it.

11/24/2009 09:54:49 AM · #22

Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

I decided to do these in B/W for a change of pace. Definitely interesting to retool winners.

I was originally going to do the grain one in color... and then gave in to B/W.

I definitely, REALLY like both of these!

I dunno why, but B&W just never occurred to me.

GinaRothfels

Olympus 8mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko Digital ED Fisheye PRO Lens

11/24/2009 10:00:55 AM · #23

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
I didn't think of black and white until spiritualspatula tried it. I tried a couple of conversions from one of my earlier versions using virtual photographer plugin.

I'd love to see something about halfway between these two.

I like it.

Thanks. Once last try, light one added above dark one at opacity 25%:

AJSullivan

11/24/2009 10:02:24 AM · #24

Thats the ticket. I still don't like how in focus the bacground is. When I get home, I'll give it a shot, but definitely going to throw a blur layer on to make some false bokeh and drop that out a slight bit - help add some depth.